Iowa News
C.F. mayor, activists ask Grassley to back stimulus package
It is part of a national effort by a coalition of Democratic groups, under the banner "Americans United For Change," that targets a handful of moderate Republican senators.
Part of the campaign is a television ad now playing in Iowa that urges people to contact Grassley and tell him to support the bill. It features President Barack Obama talking about more Americans losing their jobs and savings every day Congress waits to act.
| Iowa Farmers Give Fair Trade a Fair Shake |
| Posted by Karen (karen) on May 08 2008 at 2:47 PM |
Thursday, May 8, 2008 - Public News Service - Dick Layman/Kevin Clay
Des Moines, IA - Iowa's farmers want to give fair trade a fair shake in their state. Saturday is "World Fair Trade Day," promoting a worldwide movement to provide farmers with a living wage while protecting the environment in developing countries. The event will also encourage consumers to make fair trade items a larger percentage of their purchases throughout the year.
Iowa vegetable producer Rick Hartmann thinks fair trade practices could also be applied to local farmers.
"If you look at the direct market movement in Iowa you incorporate a lot of the benefits of the fair trade system for local farmers."
Hartmann believes direct marketing includes not only farmers' markets, but farmers selling directly to consumers and institutions. He says there are farmers in Iowa who could meet the fair trade certification requirements today.
"Here in Iowa we probably have a number of lower-resource farmers that could be certified fair trade The question is, why don't we expand fair trade certification to our own farmers?"
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